The present invention relates to testing apparatus of the type which is especially useful in determining whether certain electronic equipment is operationally fit and particularly, to apparatus for testing the performance of an airborne missile control system.
There presently exists an automatic, programmable, dynamic test set (AN/APM-307) capable of testing virtually any weapons control function when provided with suitable interface adapters and program testing sequences. It is vastly under-utilized in this regard, especially since it provides a printed record of test failures for subsequent analysis. There also exists a test set (AN/ASM-184) which provides TV video signals which simulate those signals provided by the Walleye guided missile. This unit can be used in conjunction with the Maverick Interface Test Set (MITS) to test signals provided to and from the Maverick missile. The combination of the AN/ASM-184 and the MITS however, is cumbersome, and test results are open to operator interpretation. Additionally, it requires several people to operate and considerable time to perform the necessary tests. The MITS interface unit is necessary since the AN/ASM-184 provides a form of video signals which is unique to the Walleye missile and markedly different from other video signals provided by other weapons. The Maverick missile provides video signals which are essentially the same as U.S. commercial EIA video signals, while the Walleye produces much longer horizontal and vertical synchronization parameters. The AN/ASM-184 test set is also an expensive unit whose replacement parts are becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus capable of producing exact replicas of the Maverick missile video signals.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a video signal adapter that is adapted for use with the AN/APM-307 programmable, dynamic test set.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a video signal adapter that can be used in conjunction with the aforementioned test set which will check all aircraft control signal lines for faults and will advise the operator of such faults with a printed record.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cost effective way of adding new testing capabilities to the AN/APM-307 test set.
A further object of the present invention is to provide test apparatus which produces video displays which accurately mimmick those provided by in-use weapons systems, as well as those likely to be available in the future.